Apparatus for treating shoes.



J. E. GROAT.

APPARATUS FOR TREATING SHOES. APPLICATION FILED MAR 9. 1917 LQWAQQD Patented June 11, 1918.

.TOSEPH E. enoAT, or WEBSTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORTO B. A CORIBIN Arm SON COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

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APPARATUS FOR TREATING- SHOES.

Application filed March 9, 1917. Serial No. 158,786.

' To all whom it may camera:

All)

Be it known that I, JOSEPH E. GROAT, a subject of Great Britain, residing at Webster, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Im-- provements in an-Apparatus forTreating Shoes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

It has become a relatively common practice in recent years to subject the toe portion of a shoe to the action of steam or hot vapor preparatory to lasting" this part of the shoe, and sometimes also prior to pulling it over, for the purpose of softening the upper stock in this portion of the shoe and thus facilitating the lasting and pullingover operations. This practice was originally introduced to alleviate the difiiculties experienced in lastin very high toed shoes and it was found so efiicacious that the practice was very lgenerally continued after the high toed sty es of lasts which originally brought it into use were discontinued. Another factor which has served to maintain the practice of steaming toes has'been the I wide use in the last few years of toe stiffeners of'the Vulco and similar types. These stifi'eners are usually made from felt, or some similar material, im regnated with a composition that renders t em very stiff and firm at ordinary temperatures but which makes them very soft and pliable when heated somewhat above the usual temperatures.

Before either pulling-over or lasting a shoe in which a toe stiffener of this typeis used, it

obviously is necessary to heat the stifi'enersufficiently to render it pliable. Whlle it is not necessary to use steam or vapor merely for the purpose of softening the stiffener itself, it must be subjected to the action of a heated medium of some kind and usually steam, or the hot vapor commonlytermed steam, is employed for this purpose, both because it performs'the function of softening the stifiener and also because it,softens the other upper materials and thus facilitates the lasting and pulling-over operations in a manner which could not be accomplished merely by the use of dry heat. The various forms of apparatus by which this heating and softening operation is accomplished are known in the trade as vamp steaming machines toe steamers, toe softening machines and the like.

Notwithstanding the fact that apparatus of this character is very generally used, a great deal of trouble is experienced due to the damaging of the upper leather of the shoes while undergoing treatment in such apparatus. Sometimes the damage is caused by the spattering of hot water on the upper leather and sometimes by the fact that it is subjected too long to the action of the steam used for this purpose or to the action of steam at too high a temperature. Even if the leather is not burned sufiiciently to make it brittle and absolutely worthless, its finish very frequently is damaged and the salability of the shoe thus is seriously impaired. Vegetable tanned leathers, which are largely used for upper stock, are particularly liable to be injured in the toe softening operation,

and it has therefore been proposed to make the toe caps of these shoes of chrome tanned vamp and either burn the vamp or spoil the finish of the'leather, as above described.

The present invention aims to eliminate the damaging of shoes which attends the practice of softening toes in the manner above described. To this end the invention provides a novelform of protecting device for the upper of the shoe which permits the softening of the stock at the toe by subject- 'ing it to the action ofa heated fluid medium in the usual way but protects the other parts of the shoe upper from the action of this medium.

The'invention will be'readily understood from the following description, reference being made tothe accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is an angular view of an appa ratus embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross sectional View of j ever, be applled to any of the YaIIOUS' toe I steaming devices on the market, as for m- Fig. 3 1s a rear elevation of the device shown in Fig. 2, showing the manner of engagement bf this de'n' icewith a shoe. H

The invention is illustrated in the draw-1 ings as applied to a toe steaming apparatus,

indicated in general at'2, of a form widely used by the trade. The invention may, howstance. that shown in the Keyes Patent No.

paratus shown comprises a housing or casr ing of suitableshape supported on a hollow column which contains abody of water that v is heated by means of steam. Thesteam or hot-vapor rising from thisbo'dy of water J goes up through the casingand into the space into which the toe portlons of the shoes are positioned; The apparatus illus-' 'trated is designed to steam two shoes at a time.

Each shoe is supported in the apparatus by a protecting device ofnovel .con-

struct'ion, both of said devices being securedto a support 4 which is fastened to the 'front' of the steamer 2 by means of a bolt 5. The support 4 is provided with two substantially semi-circular'notches 6 through,which, re-' spectively, the toe portions of the shoes p roject. yThis support preferably is made of some heat insulating material such as wood.

The protecting devices above referred to each comprises a flexible trough-like shield preferably made of sheet material of suitable character. .This shield consists of a member 8 of canvas, duck, leather or the like bent into a U shape, as clearly shown in Fig. l, and secured-at its forward-edge between the folds of another piece of sheet material 10, which preferably consists of an asbestos fabric. The fabric 10 is shown folded back upon itself, the edge .of the part, 8 is entered between the two parallel edge portions of the strip 10, and these two pieces are, secured together by lines of stitches which form a hem in. the forward edge portion v of the part 10. A helical spring 12 is run through this hem and has its ends secured together above the shield.

The shield is secured to the support 4: at

substantially the middle portion of its formeans may conveniently consist of, two L shaped clips 14: each having a horizontal arm riveted to the forward part 10 of the shield and a vertical arm screwed to a member 16 which is fastened to the front face of the support 4:.

' Tn using the apparatus, the workman places a shoe in the shield 8 and pushes it matically 'to the shape of this incense the, free side pdrtions' of the forward end of theshield drawn toward each other, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the space between said opposite sides is too narrow to receive a shoe for which the device is made. The act of inserting the shoe in the apparatus in the manner just described spreads, the sides of the shield apart, as clearly vindicated in Fig. 3, in which the shoe is shown cross section, and the spring 12 acts on 1,094,548 granted April 28,- 191 1. The'aptheside portions-of the shield to draw them other words, the shield adjusts itself autoshoe. The shield thus hugs the upper tightly enough to prevent any substantial amount of steam from working back along the upper into contact withthe vamp where it' might damage the upper leather in the manner above described. The toe portion of theshoe pro ecting in front of the shield,-

part of the of course, is'subjected'to' the action of the heated medium circulating in the casing 2.

The part 8 of the shield may be made of material which will be sudlcientlystifi' to support the weight of the shoe while. still being flexible enough to perform the functions of. a shield. While the forward part 10 of the shield may be-made of any material suitedto the requirements of the apparatus, it is found that an asbestos fabric is particularly adapted to this purpose because of its heat resisting properties.

While I have herein shown the best embodiment of the invention of which I am at present aware, it is obvious that this embodiment is susceptible of change and modification within the skill of-the mechanic and the discretion of the designer without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is: K

1. In an apparatus for subjecting the toe portion of a shoe to the action of aheated fluid medium, means for protecting a the vamp of a shoe from the action of said medium constructed and arranged to conform automatically substantially to the contour of'the upper of the shoe in the region of the rear part of the toe cap and presenting a continuous surface for engagement with the upper of'the shoe.

2. in an apparatus of the -"character described, the combination with means for "subjecting the toe portion of a shoe to the action of a heated fluid medium, of a pro upper in the region of the rear portion of the toe cap and constructed to adjust itself res tecting device arranged to embrace the shoe t ee automatically substantially to the contour of. said portion of the upper of a shoe positioned therein, said device being operative to leave the toe portion of the shoefexposed to the action of said medium but to protect the u-pp'er of the shoe back of the toe portion from the action'of said medium.

3. In an apparatus o'fJthe character de scribed, the combination of a flexible shield of sheet material shaped to fit over the vamp .of a shoe leaving the toe portion .of the shoe projecting therefrom, yielding means operative todraw the forward part of said shield snugly about the upper of the shoe in the region of the rear edge of the toe cap, and

' means for'direoting a heated fluid medium against said projecting toe portio p of' the s 0e. k

4. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of-a flexible shield of sheet material shaped to lit over the vamp from the action of said medium.

5'. In an. apparatus of the character described, the combination of, a trough-like shield -,of flexible sheet material, a support.

to which the'middle portion of the forward end of said shield is secured leaving the side. portions of the shield" at said end free p 1 to move toward and fromeac'h other, and a spring tending :pull said side portions toward each other. a 6. In an apparatusof the character described, the combination of a trough-like shield of flexible sheet material, a support to which the middle portion of the forward end of said shield is secured leavingthe side said jaws in operative position;

portions of the shield at said end free to,

move toward. and from each other, and a helical spring extending along the forward edge of said shield and tendin to'pull. said free side portions toward. eac other.

In an apparatus ofqthe character def scribed, the combination of a trough-like shield of flexible sheet material, a support to which the middle portion of the forward end of said shield is secured lea-Vin the side portions of the shield atsaid en free to move toward and from each other, the forward part of said shield consisting of a strip of asbestos fabric, and a spring acting on said freeside portions to pullthem yieldi'ngly toward each other.

' 8. In an apparatus for'subjecting the toe portion of a shoe tothe action of a heated fluid medium, the combination of a flexible shield shaped to fit over the vamp of the shoedeaving the toe portion of the shoe pro-- jecting therefrom, and means constructed and arranged to act on said shield to hold it snugly about the upper of the shoe in the neighborhood of the rear part of the toe cap.

9. In an apparatus for subjecting the toe portion of a shoe to the action of a heated fluid medium, the combination of a flexible shield having a partflconsisting of textile heat insulating material constructed to fit over the vamp of a shoe leaving the toe portion of the shoe projecting therefrom, and

means acting yieldingly to hold the edge of said shield snugly about the upper of the shoe in the neighborhood of the rear part of I the toe cap. a

10. The combination a with a treating chamber having an aperture as described, of jaws movable relative to the edges of the aperture and adapted to embrace an object in the aperture, and means for holding In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JOSEPH n. enonr. 

